WHAM!
Ben crashed heavily into the dirt, the impact driving the breath from his lungs. Before he could even think about standing up, Arctiguana was already closing the distance, pursuing his advantage with predatory focus.
Shhhhh! Shhhhh! Shhhhh!
The Polar Manzardill spat several frozen orbs in rapid succession. They looked deceptively harmless, foam-like bubbles that floated lazily through the air.
Ben rolled sideways just as the first bubble made contact with the ground.
BOOM!
The explosion of ice instantly covered several meters of earth in a thick sheet of frozen crystal. The cold radiated outward in waves.
"If I'd stayed there instead of dodging, I'd be a human popsicle right now!" Ben gasped, scrambling to his feet. His enhanced battle suit registered the temperature drop with warning indicators.
He kept rolling, narrowly avoiding the cascading barrage of frozen projectiles. Each one detonated on impact, spreading crackling ice across the training field in deadly patches.
Arctiguana tried to continue his assault, but the freezing energy in his body needed time to replenish. The foam bubbles he spat now were noticeably weaker, nothing like the devastating attacks from moments before.
Just like Heatblast could generate flames continuously without exhausting himself, Arctiguana had limits. He couldn't spam his most powerful freezing attacks like basic level abilities.
"Arctiguana! I'm getting serious now!"
The golden glow on Ben's right palm cannon intensified dramatically!
Zzzzzzt!
Steam erupted from the ice encasing his arm as electrical energy surged through the repulsor system. The frozen shell began rapidly shrinking and melting, unable to contain the raw power building beneath.
This battle had been going on for several minutes now. If Ben had been easily defeated by Arctiguana in the first two or three exchanges, Asher would have seriously questioned whether the system was deliberately setting him up with impossible sign-in tasks, or worse, whether Ben had made zero progress since receiving the battle suit.
But the reality was clear: Ben couldn't be taken down in a short time. That was exactly how it should be.
CRACK!
Ben's palm cannon broke completely free from its icy prison. He clenched his fist and smashed through the remaining ice on his other arm, shattering it into glittering fragments.
Neither combatant held anything back now. They focused entirely on the battle, reading each other's movements with growing precision.
WHOOSH!
Ben transformed into a golden blur, rocket boosters propelling him directly at Arctiguana. His fist shot forward, crackling with electrical discharge, moving as fast as a bullet leaving the chamber!
BOOM!
Arctiguana wasn't about to back down. He released several concentrated ice orbs, each one exploding on impact and creating barriers of frozen air between them.
In this extended battle, both fighters were improving dramatically.
Ben was gradually adapting to the enhanced battle suit's capabilities, learning to coordinate all its systems simultaneously. His fighting style was evolving beyond simple straight-line charges.
Arctiguana was experiencing similar growth. After familiarizing himself with the Polar Manzardill body, his endurance, power output, and control over his freezing abilities were all increasing steadily!
"Ice Age!"
Four minutes into the match, the battle reached its peak intensity. The training ground was now pocked with craters and covered in frozen patches.
Gwen and Max watched from a safe distance, stunned into silence by the rapid progress both combatants were displaying.
Arctiguana channeled an enormous amount of cold energy, then released it all at once into the sky above their battlefield!
The temperature plummeted instantly!
The entire combat zone became shrouded in heavy freezing mist. It was like stepping into another world entirely, a frozen domain that belonged solely to the Polar Manzardill!
Ben flew through this miniature ice age, surrounded by waves of frigid air. His speed and movements slowed noticeably as frost began condensing on his armor, weighing him down and suppressing the suit's output!
"Man, I feel like I'm catching a cold! Even inside the battle suit, it's freezing!" Ben shivered violently, his teeth chattering. The repulsor ports at the ends of his limbs erupted with flames, evaporating the accumulated frost in bursts of steam!
He broke through the mist barrier intact and continued trading energy blasts with Arctiguana!
After three successive wave exchanges, the battlefield was obscured by smoke and steam!
Ben, surrounded by crackling electrical energy, accelerated once more. Using the smoke as cover, he rushed straight at Arctiguana with his fists drawn back for a devastating combo!
Arctiguana seemed confused by the sudden loss of visibility, standing motionless and apparently unaware of the incoming attack.
"Am I actually going to beat Asher?!" Ben thought excitedly, already planning how much force to hold back. "When I connect, I need to pull the punch, can't go full power!"
"That's right, Ben! You're using every ability of the battle suit and starting to combine them strategically!" Arctiguana suddenly called out. "Your fighting style used to be way too one-dimensional. I've been wanting to say something about it forever!"
But when Ben's heavy fist was mere inches from connecting, Arctiguana's casual tone delivered the devastating truth!
He'd known about Ben's approach the entire time!
He'd deliberately created an opening to bait Ben in!
WHOOSH!
Arctiguana's body suddenly pivoted to face Ben directly. His cheeks were already massively inflated like a blue balloon. The instant his mouth opened, he unleashed a storm of terrifying cold energy!
The freezing blast swept across Ben's entire body like a hurricane!
His whole form instantly became an ice sculpture, frozen mid-punch with his fist still extended forward!
That fist had even made contact with Arctiguana's forehead, so close to claiming victory.
In reality, that small distance was completely insurmountable for Ben!
The battle was over.
"Ben, you lose. I'll thaw you out in a second." Arctiguana announced the result calmly, a satisfied smile crossing his reptilian features.
Whether or not the system granted a sign-in reward, this battle had tempered his strength significantly. He'd adapted to the Polar Manzardill body and made tremendous progress!
Ben had improved considerably as well. He'd learned to shroud his body in smoke, then use the lightning core's special ability to teleport right into the enemy's face for close combat!
If this had been the freshly-unlocked Arctiguana from their first encounter, Ben's strategy might have actually succeeded.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Max and Gwen watched the spectacular battle with genuine amazement and couldn't help but applaud. The miniature frozen world Arctiguana had created was especially impressive, it looked like something straight out of a fairy tale ice kingdom!
This was the kind of experience money simply couldn't buy!
DING!
"Congratulations to the host for signing in successfully!"
"Reward received: Green Bonus - Omnitrix cooldown reduced by ten seconds!"
The cooldown had dropped by another ten seconds, bringing it down to 4 minutes and 40 seconds!
As sign-in rewards accumulated, would the cooldown eventually reach zero? At that point, the time limit wouldn't matter at all, he could switch transformations instantly!
Arctiguana was quite satisfied with this reward. It was a bit disappointing that neither Stinkfly nor Arctiguana had received enhancement bonuses, but he couldn't complain about consistent progress.